Engine oil for 2006 BMW 525i E60 engine.

[benzai]

Hi all, Just purchased the car and would appreciate any truthful and proven recommendations. I previously used Amsoil SSO in my mitsubishi, can I use the same? Or any other better oils? I am willing to spend more $$ for better oils. BMW recommends Castrol, but I can't get german castrol in my country and I think the rest of the castrol line up are just average processed group III oils. Or is it the best? Secondly, BMW recommends >15k miles OCI, it is safe? Car millage now is at 66k kilometers. Pls help. Thanks in advance guys!

 

[crinkles]

are there BMW dealers where you are? What does the manual say?

 

[sprintman]

I'd be looking at the owners manual but as a minimum ACEA A3,B3, and LL01 would be my minimum spec.

 

[Trajan]

 Originally Posted By: benzai

Hi all, Just purchased the car and would appreciate any truthful and proven recommendations. I previously used Amsoil SSO in my mitsubishi, can I use the same? Or any other better oils? I am willing to spend more $$ for better oils. BMW recommends Castrol, but I can't get german castrol in my country and I think the rest of the castrol line up are just average processed group III oils. Or is it the best? Secondly, BMW recommends >15k miles OCI, it is safe? Car millage now is at 66k kilometers. Pls help. Thanks in advance guys!

I went to the bmwusa site to look up your manual. It says "Only use approved BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil.If BMW High Performance Synthetic Oil isunavailable, you can add small quantities ofother synthetic oils between oil changes. Only use oils of the specification API SH or higher." (Not much hekp brand wise...) I imagine that you would have a similar site. Probably bmw.com If so, better to go there. I think the dealer oil is relabled German Castrol. So if you have to go that route.... Can you get Mobile 1? If so, M1 0w-40 is one of the approved oils. The 15K OCI. You can go up to 15K. It depends on driving style for the most part. When I turn the key on in my car, the display shows me just how many miles I have left on the OCI. I'm guessing that yours is the same? It certainly will not hurt to go 7500K.

 

[Trajan]

 Originally Posted By: sprintman

I'd be looking at the owners manual but as a minimum ACEA A3,B3, and LL01 would be my minimum spec.

+1

 

[benzai]

Thanks guys to the replies. Really appreciate. I think I found the best oil that's available to me. Btw I think I will change my oil every 10k KM regardless of what the oil sensors tell me as I intend to keep this ride for long. Cheers! http://www.castrol.com/castrol/productdetailmin.do?categoryId=9014062&contentId=7027054

 

[addyguy]

You can't get that oil yet in NA, unless they sell it at dealerships as 'BMW syn oil'... Or are you in the UK/Europe?

 

[Audi Junkie]

Edge Sport is State of the Art. If you like fancy oils, that's as good as it gets in name brands w/approval. AMSoil SSO 0w-30 has the necessary HT/HS and is a fine example of an oil which exceeds requirements for your engine, but does not carry the BMW Approval, for a number of frivilous reasons. Depending on your driving cycles, a 30 weight oil might be desirable. One like Valvoline MaxLife would be high on my list. Perhaps Castrol Edge 5w-30 or SLX 0w-30. Those are both common "Werkstadt" oils, Edge 0w-40 being less common excepting the M-Series or cars which see track duty. The final call on visc depends on your oil temps. Do you exceed +100c?

 

[Quattro Pete]

 Originally Posted By: benzai

I previously used Amsoil SSO in my mitsubishi, can I use the same?

If you want to stay with Amsoil, they have a 5w-40 Euro Formula that should work well in your car.

 

[Trajan]

 Originally Posted By: benzai

Thanks guys to the replies. Really appreciate. I think I found the best oil that's available to me. Btw I think I will change my oil every 10k KM regardless of what the oil sensors tell me as I intend to keep this ride for long. Cheers! http://www.castrol.com/castrol/productdetailmin.do?categoryId=9014062&contentId=7027054

Good choice of oil. BMW Longlife-04. I just wish it was available here. There is another oil, a 5w-40, that meets the specs. P...something. I didn't write it down when I was at the parts store. I just might try it. Even if it is about $8/quart. To quote Doug Hillary, (search through his posts, informative to say the least.) You are best to use an oil specified as correct for your engine. BMW's engine lubricant requirements are well known, and these have been confirmed in service! The people that know which lubricant specifications are best are the people that designed, produced and warranted the engine you have.

 

[Trajan]

 Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

 Originally Posted By: benzai

I previously used Amsoil SSO in my mitsubishi, can I use the same?

If you want to stay with Amsoil, they have a 5w-40 Euro Formula that should work well in your car.

That could work. Might try that instead of the Psomething.

 

[Audi Junkie]

 Originally Posted By: Trajan

To quote Doug Hillary, BMW's engine lubricant requirements are well known

I wonder what he meant by that, since nobody seems able to produce the actual test sequence parameters. The spec's actual requirements would be somewhat more "informative" than just another re-itteration of the list.

 

[Jim 5]

 Originally Posted By: Trajan

I imagine that you would have a similar site. Probably bmw.com If so, better to go there. I think the dealer oil is relabled German Castrol. So if you have to go that route.... Can you get Mobile 1? If so, M1 0w-40 is one of the approved oils. The 15K OCI. You can go up to 15K. It depends on driving style for the most part. When I turn the key on in my car, the display shows me just how many miles I have left on the OCI. I'm guessing that yours is the same? It certainly will not hurt to go 7500K.

BMW dealer oil isn't GC, it's the same oil that's sold in Europe as Castrol TXT Softec Plus 5w-30. You can get some information on it by googling that. It's a decent oil that has shown very good UOA's. Other oils known to carry the approval for these BMW inline 6's are: - German Castrol 0w-30 - M1 0w-40 - Valv Synpower 5w-30/5w-40 BMW USA's owner's circle will tell you that M1 5w-30 can be used if you can't find BMW's oil. M1 5w-30 does not carry the approvals needed namely ACEA A3 and BMW LL01.

 

[Trajan]

 Originally Posted By: Jim 5

 Originally Posted By: Trajan

I imagine that you would have a similar site. Probably bmw.com If so, better to go there. I think the dealer oil is relabled German Castrol. So if you have to go that route.... Can you get Mobile 1? If so, M1 0w-40 is one of the approved oils. The 15K OCI. You can go up to 15K. It depends on driving style for the most part. When I turn the key on in my car, the display shows me just how many miles I have left on the OCI. I'm guessing that yours is the same? It certainly will not hurt to go 7500K.

BMW dealer oil isn't GC, it's the same oil that's sold in Europe as Castrol TXT Softec Plus 5w-30. You can get some information on it by googling that. It's a decent oil that has shown very good UOA's. Other oils known to carry the approval for these BMW inline 6's are: - German Castrol 0w-30 - M1 0w-40 - Valv Synpower 5w-30/5w-40 BMW USA's owner's circle will tell you that M1 5w-30 can be used if you can't find BMW's oil. M1 5w-30 does not carry the approvals needed namely ACEA A3 and BMW LL01.

I wasn't certain about the BMW dealer oil being relabled GC or not. That's what I've heard, but... The dealer oil is what they give me for the warranty oil changes. The GC I can get at Autozone, the M1 0w-40, which I'm using now I got at Walmart, Nice find on the 5w-30. Never heard of this owners circle. I'll have to look into that. This is what I first relied on http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/Owner/SyntheticEngineOils.asp Europe does get some nicer oils it seems.

 

[Craig in Canada]

 Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie

AMSoil SSO 0w-30 has the necessary HT/HS and is a fine example of an oil which exceeds requirements for your engine, but does not carry the BMW Approval, for a number of frivilous reasons.

The PDS I pulled up on SSO shows no ACEA A3, HTHS of 3.2 and 100C visc of 10. I would not consider SSO on the list for a BMW. As already said, I would recommend ACEA A3 at a minimum which will probably also come in at least a "thick" 30. GC BMW 5W30 Mobil1 0W40 Amsoil AFL 5W40 Many 5W40 synthetic HDEOs Many 15W40 dino HDEOs

 

[Audi Junkie]

Previous AMSoil 0w-30 had a 3.5cP. My bad. I think BMW Owner's Club is confusing Castrol (TXT) at 12cSt 3.5cP with Mobil 1 5w-30 10cSt at 2.9cP. Higher HT/HS for the same +100C is the hallmark of a better oil, imo. Take Mobil 1 0w-40 vs GC 0w-30. Same HT/HS, and that's before the shearing. Once is a 12cSt oil and the other takes 14cSt to make spec.

 

[Trajan]

 Originally Posted By: Audi Junkie

 Originally Posted By: Trajan

To quote Doug Hillary, BMW's engine lubricant requirements are well known

I wonder what he meant by that, since nobody seems able to produce the actual test sequence parameters. The spec's actual requirements would be somewhat more "informative" than just another re-itteration of the list.

Perhaps if you ask him with a much more respectful tone that your last response to him in the other thread, he would answer

 

[ecotourist]

"BMW dealer oil isn't GC, it's the same oil that's sold in Europe as Castrol TXT Softec Plus 5w-30. You can get some information on it by googling that. It's a decent oil that has shown very good UOA's. Other oils known to carry the approval for these BMW inline 6's are: - German Castrol 0w-30 - M1 0w-40" The above all sounds right. I use Castrol Syntec 0W-30 (GC) in my 2000 BMW 528i. It has the BMW LL01 rating. Seems to work fine. I change the oil at half the oil monitor recommended period (ie at about 10,000 Km) but am now planning to change the filter every other change - as it looks really clean. Ecotourist

 

[SilverC6]

I own a '06 525i. The M1 0W-40 is a great aftermarket choice. Look for the BMW LL01 designation on whatever you use. BMW's recommended long change intervals don't make a lot of sense to me. I feel more comfortable at 7,500 miles between changes.

 

[Audi Junkie]

Look for the "Long-Life" oil, but don't use it for long intervals. Gotcha.